Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: spike_tt on Monday,July 19, 2021, 01:01:44 PM
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Hi everyone,
:newhere:
Glad to be on board. If all goes well I'll be taking delivery of my 1972 Twin Cam later this week. Fingers crossed.
In the meantime... I was visiting my parents the other day. Dad's nearly 90. I mentioned to him that I'm thinking of trying to buy a Lotus Europa.
"You know they've got Triumph running gear" he said.
"Yes, I know" I replied.
"How do you know?" he asked me.
"Well, I've done my research" I said.
More interesting though, is how did my Dad know? He's not interested in cars at all.
"But how did *you* know?" I asked him.
"That Graham fella told me" he answered.
"What Graham fella?"
"That bloke Graham wossname from Lotus."
"Do you mean Graham Chapman?"
"Yes, that's him. He told me."
Dad reminded me that in the early 70s he was production manager at the Alford and Alder factory in Hemel Hempstead. Where they manufactured suspension parts for many British Leyland models.
He told me that one Sunday back then he had to go in to the factory because a customer was coming to collect some parts. It turned out that customer was Graham Chapman who had driven over himself to collect suspension parts and told my Dad they were destined for Europas.
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:Welcome:
Great introduction!
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:Welcome: spike_tt!!
Great story! Actually, the rack and uprights (and ball joint and trunnion that come along with them) are pretty much the only "running gear parts" that Lotus used. There were some electric parts like tur signal stalks that were borrowed from Triumph.
On the other hand, Lotus borrowed door handles and tail lights from Jaguar!
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:Welcome: Really looking forward to seeing photos and hearing about your car.
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:Welcome: Spike_tt.
Congrats on your purchase. Is it the UK version of the TC ? Post pics soon. 👍👍
Dakazman
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Welcome to the forum, Spike. Congrats on your purchase. Looking forward to seeing some photos once it arrives. Cheers :beerchug:
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:Welcome:
Looking forwards to seeing lots of pictures of your car.
Was that Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame or Colin Chapman of Lotus?!😉
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He told me that one Sunday back then he had to go in to the factory because a customer was coming to collect some parts. It turned out that customer was Graham Colin Chapman who had driven over himself to collect suspension parts and told my Dad they were destined for Europas.
Sound similar to a story I heard when Colin Chapman, Chunky to his friends, drove down to the Ford factory at Dagenham with 7 cars with 7 trailers, blagged his way in, took 7 Cortina shells, and took them back to his factory without paying. Presumably he had run out of credit with Ford, like he did with all his suppliers.
When Lotus are slow in paying, they have cars stored completed with some minor bits missing such as headlights. They send someone off with a van and cash to collect the parts which the suppliers have refused to send as Lotus have run out of credit. Still true today.
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When Lotus are slow in paying, they have cars stored completed with some minor bits missing such as headlights. They send someone off with a van and cash to collect the parts which the suppliers have refused to send as Lotus have run out of credit. Still true today.
That was the same with lots of upper class / high performance / kit cars, etc. DB never paid his bills on time which is why there is no real std Aston Martin.
Not sure about Lotus now its Chinese owned
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Good catch on the Colin/Graham Chapman mixup ;) I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!
Well, she arrived on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately I was working and was going away for the weekend. So I had no time to do anything other than put her in the garage before I had to leave.
Got back yesterday and finally had a good look round.
She's got issues, but I like her :)
https://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=4657.0